The bonus system for parliamentary functions creates two classes of deputies, where elected CAQ members are better paid than most members of the opposition, deplores the PQ Pascal Bérubé.
The member for Matane-Matapédia had to answer questions from his fellow citizens with the publication in The newspaperthis weekend, a table presenting the new salary of elected officials after the increase which should be adopted by Friday.
It is that after 16 years in the National Assembly, Pascal Bérubé is currently one of the lowest paid deputies in the National Assembly, since he is a member of the third opposition, without additional functions.
“The government has the option of granting additional functions which are paid and which will ensure that many CAQ deputies who have been there for six months earn much more than a deputy who has been there for 16 years, in l ‘occurring me,’ he said in an interview.
Indeed, all the deputies of the CAQ obtained additional functions (chairman, parliamentary assistant, etc.) which are accompanied by a bonus. “It’s unheard of,” said the PQ MP.
Thus, while Mr. Bérubé, his colleague Joël Arseneau and most of the solidarity deputies will be entitled to $131,766, no elected CAQ member will receive less than $151,531 annually.
“Passed by smoothly”
“The government – it slipped through – found a way to raise everyone [à la CAQ] from the election last October,” he said. Some Liberal Opposition MNAs and some Solidarity Members also have additional functions that allow them to supplement their income.
“It’s clearly a way to finance more government deputies, and the net result is that if you are at the CAQ, you deserve better conditions than the opposition,” said Mr. Bérubé.
The PQ member recognizes that the situation is not simple. An opposition member will not become a minister’s parliamentary assistant. And the Parti Québécois cannot do without one of its three elected members to chair a session.
Equal wages
Without having a solution at hand, Pascal Bérubé believes, however, that we must make sure not to create “two classes of deputies”. “All deputies deserve similar conditions,” he pleads.
The Parti Québécois, like Québec solidaire, will vote against the salary increase for elected officials proposed by the CAQ. PQ MPs will only keep an increase similar to that granted to government employees for the current mandate.